Committed to Excellence

Assessments

Assessments

"If assessment is to be a positive force in education, it must be implemented properly. It cannot be used to merely sort students or to criticize education. Its goals must be to improve education. Rather than 'teach to the test,' we must 'test what we teach."

-Lockwood and McLean

Assessing students using multiple measures is an integral part of understanding student learning. School districts that administer useful assessments, provide corrective instruction, and give students multiple chances to demonstrate success can improve their instruction and help students learn. The District administers a variety of assessments throughout the school year that serve to do the following:

Develop an understanding of the information and what it means;

Compare the concepts and skills that will be tested and supplement with those taught by the school's curriculum to close identified learning gaps;

Analyze the similarities and differences between identified trends in assessment results and other achievement data; and,

Develop strategies to modify curriculum, instruction, and assessment to improve student learning in the classroom.